Edit This Favorite

Family offices are emerging as a new force on Wall Street as wealthy families are becoming more aware of their clout, either as single family entities or as members of family syndicates. Wealthy families were early adopters of alternative investments, including real estate, venture capital, private equity and hedge funds.

Today, family investment units continue to seek out alternative investment opportunities, but they are doing so with a new sense of their bargaining strength and are more inclined towards co-investment and customized solutions. For CTHFA’s 2Q symposium we have brought together J.H. McLaughlin & Co., a family office consultant, GenSpring Family Offices, a leading multi-family office and Geller & Company, a firm that provides wealth management services to family offices.

As SunTrust Advisory Services, Inc.’s Managing Director, Alternative Investments Research and Senior Vice President, Spencer Boggess is responsible for helping to oversee the firm’s robust manager evaluation process with a particular focus on alternative investments. Spencer joined SunTrust in the fall of 2016 and brings over 20 years of experience in the financial service industry, specializing in alternative investment management. He is based in New York City and maintains a secondary office in Jupiter, Florida.

Prior to joining SunTrust Advisory Services, Inc., Spencer served as the Managing Principal for Westleigh Consulting, LLC where he provided research consulting services to select alternative investment firms and emerging growth companies. Spencer also served as Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Alternative Investments for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management where he was responsible for their alternative platform and Head of Hedge Fund Investment and Research for Bank of America for the prior 10 years. Other previous experience includes: Senior Portfolio Manager and CEO for US Trust Hedge Fund Management Inc., Senior Vice President and Co-Director of Research for CTC Consulting, and Principal for Winston Partners.

Spencer holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia, College of Arts & Sciences. He is a primary author of “Best Practices in Hedge Fund Investing: Due Diligence for Equity Strategies” and served as general editor of three subsequent volumes spanning global macro, managed futures, credit and fixed income strategies.

Barbara Parker - CPA, Chief Financial Officer at Geller & Company

Barbara provides CFO services for Geller & Company clients, principally those with significant and complex investment strategy, planning and management needs. Barbara is responsible for the day-to-day accounting, reporting, treasury and finance matters associated with high net worth clients for all multi-strategy asset classes including public markets, hedge funds, private equity and credit funds, real assets and direct investments.

Barbara brings more than 25 years’ experience as CFO of various private equity and hedge funds, most recently as CFO and member of the Operating Committee of Sageview Capital, a $1.5 billion private equity fund. Barbara has extensive experience with partnership accounting and reporting, tax, treasury, investment advisory, compliance, and partnership terms.

Barbara also has extensive experience managing high net worth family office matters including estate planning, private aviation, tax, treasury and investment management and reporting. Barbara began her career at Deloitte Touché where she was an Audit Manager.

Barbara received a BS in Accounting from the University of Connecticut and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Jamie McLaughlin - founder of J. H. McLaughlin & Co., LLC.

He has over 25 years of experience in both senior operating roles and client-facing roles in the family office and ultra-high net worth industry. Previously, he was CEO of Geller Family Office Services, a partner at Convergent Wealth Advisors where he built the firm’s New York office, the regional president of Mellon Private Wealth Management’s New York region, and a financial advisor at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Inc., where he started in the wealth management industry.

He has over 25 years of experience in both senior operating roles and client-facing roles in the family office and ultra-high net worth industry. Previously, he was CEO of Geller Family Office Services, a partner at Convergent Wealth Advisors where he built the firm’s New York office, the regional president of Mellon Private Wealth Management’s New York region, and a financial advisor at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Inc., where he started in the wealth management industry.

Immediately following his college graduation, Mr. McLaughlin served as the Head Soccer Coach and an Assistant to the Athletic Director at Lafayette College, his alma mater. At the time, he was the youngest head coach of a Division I sport in America.

He is Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) www.afb.org where for many years chaired the AFB’s investment committee. He is Chair of the Subscribers Advisory Committee for PURE www.pureinsurance.com, a policyholder-owned property and casualty insurance company and a member of the Greenwich Roundtable www.greenwichroundtable.org. He serves on the Advisory Committee of Addepar, Inc. www.addepar.com, a wealth management technology company and on the Advisory Board of PivotalPath www.pivotalpath.com, a hedge fund due diligence firm. He also serves on the Town of Darien’s Board of Finance. He was recently President of the Lafayette College Alumni Association.

Mr. McLaughlin received his Bachelor’s degree in History from Lafayette College and his Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School.